Banks, credit unions and other financial institutions regularly process checks, deposit slips and other types of bank documents in order to execute financial transactions efficiently. Document processing systems have therefore become quite prevalent in the industry. In order for these document processing systems to accept and process stacks of documents, generally the edges of the documents must be substantially aligned. Before automation, this alignment was done by hand and was often quite time consuming. Over the years, however, automated paper joggers have evolved to support the increasing use of electronic document processing systems.
A substantial shortcoming of conventional paper joggers has been the size and audible noise associated with the joggers. For example, a typical paper jogger for aligning U.S. currency is floor standing, immobile, and produces significant noise and vibration. Similar systems are in use for checks, receipts, and deposit slips. Generally, due to the above problems a bank will locate such a paper jogger in an isolated location to prevent nuisance to customers and employees. Such a solution, however, is inefficient and costly.
The lack of efficiency and costliness of conventional paper joggers is also due to the fact that in the past few years, new document processing systems have been developed for individual use at the location of the bank teller. Thus, documents must be aligned in one location and processed in another. This increases the time required to service each customer and increases overhead costs. It is therefore desirable to provide a paper jogger which is small enough and quiet enough to be placed on a countertop for individual use.
Conventional paper joggers are also extremely complex. For example, it is not uncommon for such a device to incorporate multiple level jogging tables, offset weighting configurations, and complicated spring mechanisms. This complexity adds to the initial cost as well as upkeep of the device. These paper joggers also require AC power and have negligible mobility. It is therefore desirable to provide a paper jogger with fewer components and the ability to operate from a totally internal power supply.